Throttle control valve assembly

ABSTRACT

This is mechanism for adjusting the pressure to be applied to actuate valve that is operate by movement of a rod. The rod is slidably received through a bore through a base member and extends through a sleeve that has one end threaded onto the base member. A coil spring around the portion of the rod within the sleeve has one end attached to a collar that is on the rod in a fixed position relative to the length of the rod and its other end loosely threaded onto a matingly threaded annular element fixed in the interior of the sleeve. Thus, screwing the annular element relatively into or out of the spring varies the spring rate, and screwing the sleeve relatively toward or away from the base varies the compression of the spring, for adjusting the amount of pressure that must be applied to move the rod.

United States Patent.

Inventor Donald A. Worden Pompton Plains, NJ. Appl. No. 32,317 FiledApr. 27, 1970 Patented Oct. 19, 197 1 Assignee Morotta ScientificControls, Inc.

Boonton, NJ.

THROTTLE CONTROL VALVE ASSEMBLY 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

3,347,044 10/1967 Medley.... 92/130 3,277,836 10/1966 .looste 92/130 X1,652,879 12/1927 Standerwick 92/130 X Primary Examiner-Edgar W.Geoghegan Assistant Examiner-R. H. Lazarus AttorneySandoe, Hopgood &Calimafde ABSTRACT: This is mechanism for adjusting the pressure to beapplied to actuate valve that is operate by movement of a rod. The rodis slidably received through a bore through a base member and extendsthrough a sleeve that has one end threaded onto the base member. A coilspring around the portion of the rod within the sleeve has one endattached to a collar that is on the rod in a fixed position relative tothe length of the rod and its other end loosely threaded onto a matinglythreaded annular element fixed in the interior of the sleeve. Thus,screwing the annular element relatively into or out of the spring variesthe spring rate, and screwing the sleeve relatively toward or away fromthe base varies the compression of the spring, for adjusting the amountof pressure that must be applied to move the rod.

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BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates tomechanism for operating a throttle control valve and in particular tosuch mechanism which includes means for varying the amount of pressurethat must be applied to the mechanism to open and close the throttlevalve. This means thus provides for adjustment of c the mechanism tocoordinate the throttle response with graduations on a scale associatedwith a throttle control lever, for example.

In systems and apparatus in which an engine, or a number ofcooperatingengines, are operated automatically or by remote control forsupplying precise amount of power and for starting, stopping,accelerating and decelerating in response to precise requirements or foroperating in accurate, timed relation-for example, in systems includingstandby motor generator sets that are operated in response torequirements for maintaining a unifonn level of electric power, or inaircraft or ships having a number of different engines operating inunison-it is particularly necessary to be able to adjust the response ofthe throttle valve, or valves, in relation to the actuation of themechanism that operates the throttle valve or valves.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide simple andeffective means for making fine adjustments in the response of athrottle valve to the actuation of the mechanism that operates thethrottle valve.

Another object is to provide such adjusting means which is easilyincorporated in conventional throttle control valve mechanism and whichdoes not involve complex adapters and which takes up little additionalspace so that its incorporation in the control mechanism is normallyaccomplished easily without having to rearrange elements of the controlmechanism or of adjacent elements of the engine.

Still another object is to provide such adjusting means in which theadjustment is made by adjusting the spring rate and/or the compressionof a coil spring against the pressure of which the throttle controlvalve, or other device, is actuated.

Adjusting means in accordance with this invention are adapted for usewith throttle valve control mechanism which includes a rod that ismovable longitudinally for opening and closing a throttle valve. The rodis slidably received through a base member and through a sleeve which isthreaded onto the base member. Within the sleeve a coil spring aroundthe rod has one end attached to a collar that is mounted on the rod in afixed position relative to the length of the rod. The other end of thecoil spring is loosely threaded onto an annular element that isremovably and rotatably supported in the interior of the sleeve.

The spring rate (which is proportional to the number of effective coilsof the spring) is varied by screwing the annular element relatively intoor out of the spring to change the number of coils between the collarand the first screw thread on annular element. For a given adjustment ofthe spring rate the compression of the spring, and hence its staticpressure, may be further adjusted by screwing the sleeve relatively ontoor out from the base. Being thus able to adjust the spring rate providesfor a rough adjustment of the spring pressure; adjusting the compressionby turning the sleeve provides a fine adjustment. Either or both ofthese adjustments are made to adjust the amount of pressure that must beapplied to move the rod for operating the throttle valve. Varying thispressure, of course, varies the speed and amount of movement of the rodin response to pressure applied to it and thus provides means which maybe utilized in conjunction with, or, to some extent, instead of,adjustment of the pressure which may be applied to the rod to open orclose the throttle valve a desired amount.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear orbe pointed out as the description proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, forming a partthereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding partsin all the views;

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of throttle control valve mechanismincorporating adjusting means of this invention, the adjusting meansbeing shown in longitudinal cross section;

FIG. 2 is a left-end view of the adjusting means shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a right-end view of the adjusting means shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4is a view similar to the view of FIG. I, but showing the adjustingelement screwed further into the end of the coil spring to increase thespring rate of the coil; and

FIG. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, athrottle control valve assembly incorporating adjusting means 10 inaccordance with this invention includes a rod 11 which is movablelongitudinally, alternately in opposite directions, for opening andclosing a throttle valve to increase and decrease the speed of theengine of which it is a part.

In FIG. 1, a throttle valve (not shown) has a lever 12 fixed on arotatable stub shaft 13 and is incrementally closed or incrementallyopened to slow down or speed up the engine by moving the lever 12respectively in a counterclockwise or in a clockwise direction. Ahelical spring 14 carried on the stub shaft 13 has one end attached tothe shaft and its other end hooked around a peg 15, which is anchored tothe engine block or some other relatively stationary member, and isbiased to urge the lever 12 in counterclockwise direction against theright end of the rod 11 which has a rounded tip element 16 on it toengage the edge of the lever and slide relatively along the latter edgewhen the rod is moved longitudinally for pivoting the lever 12.

FIG. 1 shows the rod 11, and the lever 12 which is urged against the rodtip 16 by spring 14, in their furthest positions to the left in whichthe throttle valve (not shown) is in its closed (or slow) position. Thethrottle valve is thus opened by movement of the rod 11 to the right toswing the lever I2 to the right against the tension of spring 14.

In the form of control mechanism illustrated, the rod 11 is slidablyreceived through a bore 17 in a base member 18, with the left end of therod extending into an enlarged cylindrical chamber 19 in the basemember. The rod is moved to the right, from the position shown, by fluidpressure applied to the chamber l9from a suitable source (not shown) bymeans of a tube and connector, indicated at 20 in phantom line in FIG.I, connected into the outer end of the chamber. The end of the rod 11within the chamber 19 has a flange 21 that stops the movement-of the rodto the right when the flange comes up against the inner end wall of thechamber.

A seal in the bore 17 to inhibit loss of fluid pressure around the rodis provided by an 0-ring 22 between two washers 23 and 24 that arereceived in an annular enlarged end portion of the bore adjacent to thechamber 19. The washer 24 preferably fits into the bore with a press fitso as to retain the O-ring against displacement.

The base member 18 has holes 25 transversely therethrough (FIG. 2) forattaching it to an engine block or other support by bolts (not shown).

The rod 11 extends out from the member I8 through a sleeve 30 which hasone end threaded onto the base member by mating screw threads indicatedat 31. The sleeve 30 is thus adapted to be screwed relatively in towardor out from the base member, and it is retained in a desired position ofadjustment relative to the base member by a locknut 32 which is threadedonto the screw thread 31 of the base member. The outward end of sleeve30 has two parallel slabbed-off flat surfaces 33 (FIG. 3) to be engagedby a wrench, if necessary, to turn the sleeve 30 to screw or unscrew it.

Mounted in the outer end of the sleeve 30 and extending into itsinterior is an annular projection 34 having a bore 35 through which therod 11 extends. A wiper ring 36 seated in the outward end of the bore 35bears against the surface of the rod to keep oil, grease and dirt out ofthe bore 35.

A collar 37 is mounted on the portion of the rod 11 within the sleeve 30and is held in a fixed position relative to the length of the rod by anannular shoulder 38 on the rod at one side of the collar and a snapring39 seated in an appropriate groove in the rod at the other side. Themovement of the rod 11 to the left is thus limited by the collar 37coming up against the right-end face of the base member 18.

A coil spring 40 around the portion of the rod 11 within the sleeve 30has its left end in contact with the collar 37, being seated on theright face of the collar around a hub portion 41 of the collar. Theannular projection 34 extending into the sleeve from the right endthereof has an exterior screw thread 43 corresponding to the coils ofthe coil spring 40 and the right end of the coil spring is threadedtightly onto the projection 34.

The annular projection 34 is rotatably supported in the sleeve 30 by itsright-end portion 34a being received in an annular seat portion 30a inthe right end of the sleeve 30. As shown in FIG. the end portion 34a ofthe projection is generally cylindrical to rotate in the sleeve seatportion 30a but has flattened surfaces 44 spaced around it. Theseflattened surfaces, which are suitably in a hexagonal arrangement asshown, provide means for holding the projection 34 in a vice, or forgripping it with a wrench, when the projection is removed from thesleeve 34, for screwing the projection relatively into or out of the endof the coil spring 40.

For changing the spring rate of the coil spring 40, the sleeve 30 isunscrewed from the base member 18 and temporarily separated therefrom sothat the projection, with the spring 40 mounted thereon, can be liftedout of the sleeve in order to be able to grip the spring and theprojection for screwing the projection relatively into or out of the endof the spring. This may require the use of a wrench applied on the endportion 340 of the projection while gripping the spring firmly, orgripping the portion 340 in a vice while gripping and turning thespring. After the spring rate adjustment is made, the parts arereassembled.

FIG. 4 shows the adjusting means in which the spring rate has beenincreased, as compared with the spring rate illustrated in FIG. 1, byscrewing the projection 34 relatively into the spring 40; as shown, inFIG. 1 there are five spring coils between the collar 37 and the firstthread on the projection 34 while in FIG. 4 the spring rate has beenincreased by screwing the projection 34 in to reduce the number of suchcoils to four.

In addition to adjustment of the spring rate, as above, the compressionof the spring is finely adjusted by screwing the sleeve 30 further ontothe base member 18, for increasing the compression, or by screwing thesleeve outward of the body member, for reducing the compression.

By varying the static pressure of the coil spring 40 in the abovemanner, the distance the rod is moved to the right by the application ofa particular degree of fluid pressure (hydraulic or air pressure) to thechamber 19 of the base member, may easily be adjusted for correlatingthe operation of a throttle valve, and hence the speed of an engine,with the speed of other engines, or with the operation of otherequipment.

As aforesaid, application of fluid pressure to the rod 11 moves it tothe right and pivots the throttle valve 12 to the right for speeding upthe engine. Relieving the fluid pressure allows the coil spring 40 tomove the rod 11 back to the left again so that lever 12 follows the rodback under the pressure of helical spring 14 to slow the engine down.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but changes and modifications can be made and some featurescan be used in different combinations without departing from theinvention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is: I l. Mechanism for operating a throttle controlvalve or the like that is operated by movement of an element alternatelyin opposite directions, comprising a movable rod moving said element incorrespondence with movement of the rod, means for moving the rod, abase member having a bore with said rod being slidably received throughthe bore, a sleeve having one end threaded onto the base membercoaxially around the rod, said rod extending through the sleeve, acollar in a fixed axial position around a portion of the rod within thesleeve for butting against the base member and preventing furthermovement of the rod in one direction, a coil spring in the sleeve aroundthe rod, said sleeve having an annular element mounted therein, saidannular element having a screw thread corresponding to the coils at oneend of the spring, said spring having one end threaded onto said threadand its other end supported on said collar and means on the annularelement so that screwing the annular element relatively onto or out fromthe end of the spring varies the spring rate thereof, and screwing thesleeve relatively along the base member changes the compression of thespring, for adjusting the amount of pressure required to move the rodagainst the pressure of the spring.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 in which the annular element is rotatablyseated inside the outward end portion of the sleeve and removable fromthe sleeve, when the sleeve is completely unscrewed from the basemember, to facilitate screwing it relatively onto or out from thespring.

3. The mechanism of claim 2 wherein said last-mentioned means comprisesa circumferential surface of an end portion of the annular element thatis generally cylindrical and is rotatably received in an annular seatportion of the sleeve inside the outward end of the sleeve, and in whichsaid generally cylindrical end portion has a number of flat surfacesspaced around it to be engaged by a gripping tool.

4. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said annular element has an axialbore therethrough, through which said rod slidably extends, and anexterior screw thread onto which said end of the spring is looselythreaded.

5. The mechanism of claim I in which said base member has a chambertherein in axial alignment with and opening into said bore, an end ofsaid rod extending through said bore into the chamber and which includesmeans for applying fluid pressure to said chamber for moving the rodrelatively through said bore against the pressure of said springs.

6. The mechanism of claim 6 including annular sealing means around aportion of the rod between the rod and the surface of said bore in thebase member.

1. Mechanism for operating a throttle control valve or the like that isoperated by movement of an element alternately in opposite directions,comprising a movable rod moving said element in correspondence withmovement of the rod, means for moving the rod, a base member having abore with said rod being slidably received through the bore, a sleevehaving one end threaded onto the base member coaxially around the rod,said rod extending through the sleeve, a collar in a fixed axialposition around a portion of the rod within the sleeve for buttingagainst the base member and preventing further movement of the rod inone direction, a coil spring in the sleeve around the rod, said sleevehaving an annular element mounted therein, said annular element having ascrew thread corresponding to the coils at one end of the spring, saidspring having one end threaded onto said thread and its other endsupported on said collar and means on the annular element so thatscrewing the annular element relatively onto or out from the end of thespring varies the spring rate thereof, and screwing the sleeverelatively along the base member changes the compression of the spring,for adjusting the amount of pressure required to move the rod againstthe pressure of the spring.
 2. The mechanism of claim 1 in which theannular element is rotatably seated inside the outward end portion ofthe sleeve and removable from the sleeve, when the sleeve is completelyunscrewed from the base member, to facilitate screwing it relativelyonto or out from the spring.
 3. The mechanism of claim 2 wherein saidlast-mentioned means comprises a circumferential surface of an endportion of the annular element that is generally cylindrical and isrotatably received in an annular seat portion of the sleeve inside theoutward end of the sleeve, and in which said generally cylindrical endportion has a number of flat surfaces spaced around it to be engaged bya gripping tool.
 4. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said annularelement has an axial bore therethrough, through which said rod slidablyextends, and an exterior screw thread onto which said end of the springis loosely threaded.
 5. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said basemember has a chamber therein in axial alignment with and opening intosaid bore, an end of said rod extending through said bore into thechamber and which includes means for applyinG fluid pressure to saidchamber for moving the rod relatively through said bore against thepressure of said springs.
 6. The mechanism of claim 6 including annularsealing means around a portion of the rod between the rod and thesurface of said bore in the base member.